COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Sophomores Jeremy Hall and Drew Yates led the No. 6 Maryland men's soccer team in a strong second half as the Terrapins scored all of their goals after halftime in a 3-0 win against George Mason on September 9 at Ludwig Field. All of the Terps' goals came in the last 20 minutes of the match. Hall established career highs with his two goals and four points while Yates' three points is also a personal best.

Hall's two scores were the first of this season for him while Yates added his second goal of 2007. Seniors Stephen King and Aki Kadotani and junior Graham Zusi were each credited with an assist in the match. Kadotani's helper was the first of his career. Freshman keeper Thorne Holder had to make just one save in his first collegiate start to earn the shutout.

"The second half was a little bit more like Maryland soccer," head coach Sasho Cirovski said. "We started to pressure them a lot and there was a lot more commitment to our attack. The first half was very lackadaisical and I was very disappointed. Even though we were in full control, we certainly didn't do our part in terms of attacking. In the second half, you saw what can happen with an attacking philosophy."

Maryland controlled the entire 90 minutes of the match and outshot George Mason 13-2, but it was the Patriots who got the first quality chance of the night when Fro Adu received a pass in front of the box from Chris Carroll just two minutes after the opening whistle. Adu directed a shot towards the goal, but his attempt was just a bit over the crossbar.

The Terps almost put the first goal on the board off of a corner nine minutes in. Junior Michael Marchiano took the corner and delivered a cross to the far post to an awaiting Hall. The Tampa, Fla. native got a head to the ball while back-peddling, but barely missed over the goal.

Maryland had a couple of more quality chances in the first 45 minutes with freshman Yannick Salmon missing just wide and classmate Billy Cortes almost forcing an own goal against the Patriots. Salmon had a blast from 25 yards out saved by Sean Kelley at the 16:49 point in the half. With just over five minutes left, Cortes penetrated deep into the box on the left side. He sent a pass to his right and a GMU defender redirected the ball towards his own net, but Kelley was right there to make a save to keep the ball out of the net.

Nine minutes into the second half, Zusi took a free kick on the right side after a George Mason foul. His in-swinger sailed to the far post where freshman Rodney Wallace was making a run, but his diving header went high over the net.

With just under 20 minutes left in the game and Maryland on the attack, Zusi was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty kick. Zusi took it but Kelley guessed correctly and made the save to keep the Terps off the board for the time being.

The Terps' attack eventually proved to be too much, however, and scored three times in the final 20 minutes for the win. The first came in the 72nd minute when Zusi sent a cross into the box off of a corner kick. Zusi's pass was placed perfectly to Hall at the far post, who headed home a shot into the right side for the first score.

Eight minutes later, it was Hall again who beat Kelley for his second goal of the game after Yates and King found him on the right side maneuvering through the Patriots' defense.

Maryland's last goal came in the 89th minute when Kadotani stole the ball from the George Mason defense that was trying to clear. A pass deflected off of the senior and went to Yates to the right. The Severna Park product dribbled to the right side of the box and around a defender and placed a shot into the back of the net.

The Terps (2-1-1) will now head to Chestnut Hill, Mass. on September 15 for their ACC opener against Boston College. That match is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m.